Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (often shortened to Skadden Arps; Skadden; or SASM&F), founded in 1948, is a law firm based in New York City. With nearly 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest,[4] most prestigious[5] and highest-grossing law firms in the world.[6]Forbes magazine called Skadden "Wall Street's most powerful law firm," and the firm has been named as America's best Corporate Law firm every year since 2001.[7][8]

In 2010, Skadden was the second largest law firm in the world by revenue with US$2.1 billion in gross revenue.[6][9] Skadden had about 1,886[1] attorneys in 23 offices in 2011.[10] The total number of employees at the firm is nearly 4,200. Measured by the number of attorneys, Skadden is the second-largest law firm in the state of New York, the sixth largest in the United States.[1] In 2010, the National Law Journal ranked Skadden 6th in its list of the 250 largest law firms in the United States.[citation needed] In 1995, Forbes's Largest Private Companies ranked Skadden as 335th[11] on the list of the largest private U.S. companies by revenue. By 2003 Skadden had risen to 194th[12] before falling back to 213th[13] in 2010.

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It is, according to some measures, the third most prestigious law firm to work for in the United States (Rankings Vault, 2015),[14] and according to the advisory firm FTI Consulting, Skadden has been named as the America's best Corporate Law firm in 2013 (a position held since 2001).[7] Although called a sweatshop by some,[15] Skadden is also known for its generous attorney compensation. Like other top national firms, it pays its first-year associates $160,000. This does not include the annual discretionary bonus.[16]

The firm’s reputation was affected when it “compiled a largely sympathetic report in 2012” on the Ukrainian government’s jailing of Yulia Tymoshenko, “a former prime minister and the president’s chief political opponent, even though most impartial observers say it was politically motivated.”[17]

In 2014, the firm agreed to pay a $4.24 million settlement to a bankruptcy trustee for the firm's role as counsel for Buddy Fletcher and his hedge fund operations.[18]

As of February 2011, there are 432 partners at Skadden.[19] Unlike some firms that have introduced two-tier partnerships with equity and non-equity partners, Skadden maintains a one-tier partnership, in which all partners are equity partners and share ownership of the firm.[20] Among the more notable partners are:

Through the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, the firm sponsors law school graduates who wish to practice public interest law. The foundation was established in 1988 at the time of the firm's 40th anniversary. The Los Angeles Times has called the program "a legal Peace Corps."[23]Fellows work with a sponsoring organization in the field of providing legal services to the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the disabled, and the disenfranchised. Skadden pays fellows a salary of $46,000 (as of 2006), plus all fringe benefits the sponsoring organization offers its employees. As of 2006, the firm has awarded 473 fellowships.[23]